It’s no secret that the Blue Jackets want to play faster this year. They want to take more chances.
There was evidence of both on opening night at Nationwide Arena – in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,144 – but as John Tortorella said earlier this week, the aggressive mentality should not come at the expense of defense.
You can bet it will be a point of emphasis before the puck drops on Game 2.
The building was rocking during the pre-game introductions and the Blue Jackets jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period, but things took a shift backward in the second period.
Alexander Wennberg opened the scoring 2:58 into the game when he surprised Tuukka Rask with a quick shot from the top of the circles. Cam Atkinson slammed in a perfect feed from Nick Foligno to make it 2-0 Columbus (a power play goal) with 2:35 left in the first period, and that lead would hold going into the break.
In the second period, though, the Bruins warmed to the task and the Blue Jackets did well to keep it even after 40 minutes.
Seth Jones scored 6:44 into the period to give the Blue Jackets a two-goal lead again at 3-1, but David Backes made an impact in his Bruins debut, scoring two goals less than four minutes apart to bring Boston even at 3-3.
The third period belonged to Brad Marchand, who already had a good night going, but he capped it off in style. He scored the go-ahead goal with 10:06 left on a delayed penalty, then scored a nifty solo-effort goal with 4:35 to go, effectively sealing the deal for the Bruins.
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